The present invention relates to initial processing of certain reclaimable waste materials, and particularly to apparatus usable to separate pneumatic or other rubber-like tires from discarded wheels, to reduce extremely large tires to smaller pieces, and to break large pieces of wood and similar waste materials into smaller pieces.
A continuing problem in the field of waste disposal is the treatment of discarded automobile and truck wheels and their tires. When motor vehicles are withdrawn from further use, their wheels of all sizes are frequently discarded, usually with their tires still mounted on the rims.
Some wheels are saved for further use when a vehicle is discarded, but if the wheels themselves have been damaged, are out of style, or are of sizes not commonly needed, the value of the wheel resides primarily in its scrap metal value. There is also value in the tires themselves, which can be cut or shredded into smaller pieces for use as fuel or in preparation for further processing. In order to make use of either the tires or the wheels, they must be separated from one another, although neither needs to be carefully handled. Thus, the primary objective to be met is economical and simple removal of tires from the wheels.
Extremely large tires, such as those used on earth moving equipment and the like, are usually removable from the wheels on which they are normally mounted through the use of detachable rim portions. However, such tires are large enough that it is difficult or impossible to reduce whole tire carcasses to pieces of smaller sizes by the use of most available tire shredding equipment. It is therefore desirable to cut such large tires into smaller pieces with a minimum of effort and special equipment.
Certain other waste materials, such as discarded wooden pallets or used lumber of odd sizes, are of little commercial value other than when broken up for use as fuel. However, because many of such scrap boards and the like are too large, they cannot be broken into small, easily handled pieces by normally-available waste processing equipment. It is therefore necessary to reduce the original size of such large pieces by other means, but without the use of saws and similar woodworking equipment which might be damaged by metal fasteners left in the materials.
In the past, these problems have been dealt with in various ways. Grasso U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,606 discloses apparatus for puncturing and stripping tires from automobile wheels simply by pushing the tires off to one side of the wheels. While such apparatus is apparently useful within a limited range of tire sizes, it appears likely that only parts of many tires would be torn free while other parts of such tires would remain attached to the wheels.
Heikkinen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,394, and Larsen U.S. Pat. No. 4,080,887 both disclose apparatus in which three hydraulicly operated rams bend the rims of automobile wheels radially inwardly at positions spaced 120 degrees apart from one another, in order to reduce the size of the wheels sufficiently to permit the tire to be removed easily from the wheel. Such equipment, however, is unnecessarily complex, and the use of three rams operating simultaneously creates unnecessary force balancing and timing problems, as well as the possibility that a wheel may bind itself to the head of one of the rams.
Sharp et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,292 discloses a machine for removing tires from the wheels of junked automobiles, without removing the wheel from the automobile. The vehicle must be carried to the tire removal apparatus and positioned properly with respect to it, as a scissors-like arrangement shears the tire along a radial plane. Because the vehicle must be suspended during operation of the apparatus, it is considered unnecessarily difficult and unwieldy to use.
de Massacre U.S Pat. No. 4,050,144 discloses a device for removing puncture-proof inner tubes from tires through the use of a round-nosed ram pushed against a tire radially while the tire and tube are confined within a box-like portion of the apparatus. However, the apparatus does not appear to be particularly suited to removal of a tire from a wheel.
Barnes U.S. Pat. No. 3,020,831 discloses apparatus for pressing radially inwardly against the circumference of a circular object, but the apparatus described does not appear to be related to removal of tires from wheels.
Aluotto U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,590 discloses a baler press whose ram face includes horizontal grooves and bars to grip material being pressed.
None of the prior art known to the applicant, however, deals particularly with the problems of cutting extremely large tires into small pieces nor with breaking down large pieces of wood and the like into smaller pieces that can be further reduced in size by available machinery.
The present invention provides an apparatus intended to meet the need for a simple, yet rugged and effective machine for crushing vehicle wheels sufficiently to facilitate removal of the tires from wheels of most sizes. The apparatus embodying the invention may also be manufactured in or converted to a configuration permitting its use to cut very large tires along radial planes to divide such tires into smaller pieces which can be handled by existing rubber shredding apparatus. The apparatus may also be used in another configuration to break large pieces of wood and other building materials into small enough pieces to be handled by existing waste comminuting apparatus. In a preferred embodiment the apparatus of the present invention includes an elongate horizontal structural support member such as an I-beam on which a linear motor, for example, a fluid pressure-operated cylinder-and-piston assembly, is mounted adjustably. The linear motor drives a ram guided along the top of the beam, toward a stationary abutment structure located at the opposite end of the beam, so as to crush a wheel between the ram and the abutment structure. Preferably, the ram includes a punch for puncturing a tire to facilitate its removal.
In one configuration of the apparatus of the invention the ram is equipped with a knife and the abutment structure defines a slot for receiving the knife while supporting a large tire as the knife is used to cut the tire into pieces along radial lines.
In yet another embodiment of the invention a pair of arms extending transversely with respect to the main beam structure includes sockets to hold removable pins to support wooden boards and other breakable large items oriented transversely of the main beam member, while the ram is driven between the pins to break the breakable items into smaller pieces which can be further reduced by available waste-processing equipment.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide improved apparatus for removing tires from wheels to permit further reclamation processing of both the tires and the metal wheels.
It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus which is efficiently able to reduce unusually large tires into smaller pieces.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide equipment capable of reducing other breakable large items into smaller pieces which can be handled by existing scrap processing equipment.
A principal feature of the present invention is a linear motor adjustably fastened to the main longitudinal structural member of the apparatus, so that it may be positioned optimally for crushing the rims of small wheels to remove tires therefrom, for crushing wooden pallets, or for cutting large tires into smaller pieces.
Another feature of the present invention is the provision of a pair of transverse arms defining sockets to receive upright pins which can be used to support long boards and other breakable items in position to be broken by the ram.
A principal advantage of the present invention is that it is simpler and more versatile than previously available apparatus for crushing wheels to remove tires therefrom.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.